Altec recalled 6,780 trucks over platform steps whose welds could break loose

On September 1, 2026, an Altec customer reported that a platform access step on one of the company's aerial devices had broken while an operator was using it. Altec opened a root-cause and field-action investigation the next day and contained its on-hand inventory, met the owner on September 3 and replaced steps that failed visual weld inspection, and on September 25 determined that a potential defect existed and a field campaign was needed. On October 2 it filed a recall with NHTSA covering 6,780 units.

The defect is an insufficient weld between the step tube and its mounting plate on the sidemount bolt-on step (part number 991706418), supplied by two Tier 1 suppliers: Spectrum Metalcraft of Salina, Kansas, and Shamrad Metal Fabricators of St. Joseph, Missouri. A Certified Welding Inspector began inspections on September 15, including magnetic particle and destructive testing on returned steps; the final report reached Altec on September 17, a week before the defect determination.

The 55 percent defect rate is Altec's own estimate, with no count of field failures set beside it — the company expects more than half of the 6,780 steps to be bad. The population was built by comparing supplier purchase-date ranges against production records: 5,444 AA Series units built from February 1, 2020 through September 30, 2026, 1,075 AN Series, 246 AM Series, 12 A-Class vehicles and 3 digger derricks. Altec reports no other warranty claims, field reports, accidents, injuries or deaths tied to the issue.

Altec sells directly to electric utilities, telecom firms, contractors and tree care companies — the filing notes it has no dealer network, so its own letters and phone line are the route to every owner. It will replace the steps at no cost with newly built conforming steps whose welds meet the design load, carried a 'Do Not Drive' and park-outside advisory, and set a phased owner-notification start of November 27, 2026 under recall number CSN-3374. In production, every step weld now gets a certified visual inspection, and steps with insufficient welds are scrapped or reworked.

Recall of 6,780 units across six product lines — free replacement steps, 'Do Not Drive' advisory, phased owner letters from November 27, 2026.

Steps from two Tier 1 suppliers shipped with butt-joint welds between tube and mounting plate that could fail under a worker's weight.

The suspect purchase window spans February 2020 to September 2026, so the part went into trucks still being sold when the recall landed.

Altec's own estimate put the defect rate at 55 percent — more than half of 6,780 steps were expected to fail the standard.

A turntable step is the working surface a lineworker climbs before being raised to height; a weld that shifts under load turns routine access into a fall risk.

One field failure can sweep in years of output: matching supplier purchase windows to build records pulled in six model years, and a 55% defect estimate set the true scale.

The NHTSA campaign record lists the consequence as an increased risk of a fall or injury, under the title 'Platform Access Step May Separate from Vehicle.' Altec says it has no other warranty claims, field reports, accidents, injuries or deaths tied to the issue, and its filing notes a field-visible clue — weld cracking or rust bleeding from the weld area — that can show up in daily preoperational inspections. Owners can check by VIN in NHTSA's recall search; owner letters begin November 27, 2026, and Altec's customer service line (1-877-462-5832) handles the campaign.